Ousmane Sonko, one of Senegal's leading opposition figures, on Friday made his first public appearance in months, just a day after his release from jail, greeting hundreds of supporters in the capital Dakar.
Sonko arrived at a hotel to hold a press conference with his deputy, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also released from prison on Thursday and who Sonko has endorsed as a candidate for the March 24 presidential vote.
He predicted a large first-round victory for Faye if the presidential vote went ahead without fraud.
"If the election goes well, I don't think we'll get less than 60 percent," he said.
Election date petition
Just hours earlier, Senegal's Supreme Court confirmed the date of the delayed presidential election, rejecting an attempt by disqualified candidates to cancel the date.
The petitioners had wanted presidential decrees setting the date for the election and the duration of the campaign to be suspended.
But the court said the issue did not fall within its purview, adding that the Constitutional Council had "full jurisdicti on in electoral matters".
President Macky Sall had postponed the February election, trying to push it back to December at the last minute, sparking a crisis and deadly protests.
The Constitutional Council stepped in, forcing him to reset the date to March 24.
Widespread jubilation
In the early hours of Friday, thousands thronged the streets of Dakar, singing and dancing as Sonko and Faye were driven away from the city's Cap Manuel prison.
Disqualified from running in this vote, 49-year-old Sonko has been at the centre of a more than two year stand-off with the state.
He has endorsed his deputy, Faye, to replace him on the presidential ballot.
On his release in the small hours of Friday, 43-year-old Faye, smiling and raising his arms to the sky after almost a year behind bars, praised the "support and solidarity" of his followers.
Faye and Sonko benefitted from an amnesty law passed by MPs last week.
Huge popularity
It was an indication of the popularity of both men, particularly Sonko, who is not even in the race for the top job.
Their release is now likely to dramatically alter the run up to the election.
Until now, Faye had been unable to address voters in person and his imprisonment prevented him from recording a campaign message to be aired on public television.
But his coalition kicked off the campaign without him, pitching Faye as the candidate for "system change" and "left-wing pan-Africanism".
The opposition figure has promised to reclaim Senegal's sovereignty and renegotiate oil and gas contracts, as well as defence agreements if elected.
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